Toubabou

Day La Marseillaise became the new anthem of Belgium - Times Online

The story talks about the new Belgian Prime Minister giving the words to the French national anthem when asked if he knew the words to the Brabanconne, the Belgian national song. Ironically, he was asked because a poll showed that 75% of Belgians didn’t know the words.

Well, I had heard a joke that said that during the Second World War the Germans tried to get spies into England by pretending that they were Belgians escaping from the continent. The spies were so thoroughly trained that the British had to come up with a clever trick to find out who was really Belgian. They had the refugees sing the Brabanconne, and if they knew the words, they were German spies.

What makes the joke even funnier is that I told it to some friends when we were living in Belgium. They didn’t think it was very funny, and wondered why I thought it was. I asked if anyone there knew the words. “Well, yes, of course, um, it goes like… Yves! You know how it starts, don’t you?” Etc. Finally, one woman was found who knew the words to the song. She was the wife of one of the Belgians I was talking to, but she was Swiss!

The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta

Its Time for NAME THAT PARTY! According to a report, New York Governor Elliot Spitzer’s (D) staff has been using the NY State Police to harass and spy on his political opponents. And guess what word is curiously missing from the 1,000 word NYT story: By Good Lt. at 09:32 PM

Not only doesn’t the story mention that Spitzer is a democratic, the Republican party is mentioned several times, including one mention with a link to “Other stories about Republicans”. This is journalistic malpractice at the New York Times. Oh, I’m sorry. That was redundant.

Vista déçoit, Vienna viendra ? - lesoir.be

Le dernier système d’exploitation Windows, inauguré en grandes pompes il y a 6 mois, ne convainc pas l’industrie. D’ailleurs, son successeur est attendu dans moins de trois ans… L’avis de Gianfranco Lanci patron du Taïwanais Acer, numéro quatre mondial des fabricants d’ordinateurs, est sans appel. Le dernier système d’exploitation Vista de Windows « déçoit toute l’industrie », a-t-il déclaré à l’édition internet du Financial Times Deutschland de lundi. D’après lui, jamais auparavant le lancement d’un nouveau système d’exploitation n’avait eu aussi peu d’influence sur les ventes. ” Je ne pense vraiment pas que quelqu’un s’achète un ordinateur à cause de Vista” , a-t-il renchéri. Beaucoup de clients professionnels auraient même demandé au fabricant de continuer à installer sur les nouveaux ordinateurs le vieux système Windows XP, que Vista devait remplacer.

This is so funny. Vista has disappointed the whole industry, but wait three years? Can you imagine the “death of Apple” stories that would accompany une telle story about Apple - iPhone, Leopard, whatever?

BBC NEWS | Americas | Fires threaten homes in US west

Fires threaten homes in US west Thousands of homes have been evacuated in the US states of Idaho and Nevada after a wildfire grew by 200 sq miles (518 sq km) in 24 hours. Two large fires combined to create the blaze, which officials said was only a mile from a US Air Force training base. No-one has been hurt but the homes of some 7,500 people are at risk, a fire officer told the Associated Press. Hot weather and dry conditions in the western US have fuelled a series of fierce wildfires in recent weeks. Fire information officer Chuck Dickson said the fire along the border of Idaho with Nevada could damage radar and tracking facilities at Mountain Home Air Force Base. “When a fire moves as quickly as this one does, pushed by the wind, it creates a very hot heat front,” he told AP. “That will impact even steel structures quite easily.” The wildfire, which had spread to cover 880 sq miles (2,280 sq km) by Sunday, has burned large areas of grazing land and may have killed cattle in its path, he said. Firefighters in the western states of Oregon and Utah were also battling to contain fires over the weekend, fire officials said. In California, firefighters lifted the last of the evacuation orders imposed in northern Santa Barbara County, where a fire has been burning in the Los Padres National Forest for weeks.

ABC7Chicago.com: Organizers calling gun turn-in a success

More than 6700 guns turned in in gun-free Chicago. Turned in, I might add, to people who are not authorized by state law to be collecting guns.

Of course, the guns in the picture at ABC are all rifles which are not illegal in Chicago, they’re just no use for anything. You can’t hunt with a rifle in Illinois, and gang-bangers don’t walk around with rifles. So, what this is supposed to have accomplished is ridiculous.

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Not being able to find the contact link on Mark Steyn’s page, I thought I would comment that the Belgians are finally waking up to their impending demographic disaster. Too little too late, or dealing with one problem without realizing the impending immigration inferno, perhaps. Still, it is reassuring to see that they are not all unaware.